


Ring of Keys

by 100percentsunshine



Series: Kaylor One Shots [17]
Category: Taylor Swift (Musician)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Fun Home - Freeform, baby dyke taylor, based on Ring of Keys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2019-07-06 17:35:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15890796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/100percentsunshine/pseuds/100percentsunshine
Summary: In which a young Taylor has a moment of self discovery.





	Ring of Keys

_Someone just came in the door,_

_Like no one I ever saw before._

_I feel..._

_I feel..._

That morning, Taylor isn't woken up by the sound of her parents fighting. That had become sort of a rarity in the Swift household. At around eight thirty, Austin stumbles into her room, still wearing pajamas and says excitedly, "Dad's taking us out for breakfast. He says to get ready."

Taylor nods, still squinting at the sunshine filtering through the curtains and rolls out of bed to get dressed. Taylor's dad isn't typically the type of person who takes his family out for breakfast spontaneously, so she the times that he does she tends to remember in vivid detail.

She bounds down the stairs in excitement. "Hurry up, let's go," Scott Swift says, giving Taylor's outfit a once-over. "Where's your barrette?" he says, annoyed.

"Right here."

"Put it back in. It keeps the hair out of your eyes."

"So would a crew cut," Taylor quickly retorts, but slides the clip into her hair anyways. Disagreements in the fashion sense are not a rarity in the Swift household. It seems as though Taylor and her dad are constantly arguing about what she wears. Today, however, he stops his critique after the barrette incident.

_I don't know where you came from._

_I wish I did, I feel so dumb._

_I feel..._

_I feel..._

When they reach the restaurant, they're seated in a booth by a window. Taylor and Austin slide into one side, forcing their parents to sit together on the other. They can pretend to be a normal, happy family for one meal.

Taylor and her brother amuse themselves by coloring on the kid's menus they'd been given, even if they're both borderline too old to order off the kids menu. Their parents exchange conversation about the house and things they needed to fix and get done with long intermissions in between to sip their coffee.

They soon started teetering on the edge on of an argument, so Taylor excuses herself to the bathroom so she doesn't have to deal with it.

And that's when she sees her.

_Your swagger and your bearing_

_and the just right clothes you're wearing_

_Your short hair and your dungarees_

_And your lace up boots._

She strides into the restaurant, and nonchalantly looks around as she waits to be seated. Taylor stops in her tracks. She knows she shouldn't characterize people based on looks, but this...this woman is everything she wants to be.

She's dressed in a men's flannel shirt tucked into her jeans. A few strands of her short hair are messily sticking out all over the place. Taylor's never seen a woman dress so much like a man, so much like she wants to dress. She looks so...familiar, but Taylor's certain she's never seen her before.

_And your keys oh_

_Your ring of keys._

A waitress walks up to the woman and shows her to an empty table like it's the most normal thing, like Taylor's world doesn't feel like it's been turned completely on its head.

As the woman walks past, Taylor notices a ring of keys a jingling through her belt loop.

_I thought it was s'pposed to be wrong_

_But you seem okay with being strong_

_I want...to..._

_You're so..._

Taylor goes into the bathroom just to process this. She stands there, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She tries to imagine what she would look like with short hair, and if her dad didn't mind her dressing the way that woman did all the time.

Squinting her eyes hard, she can almost picture herself with short hair. She smiles at herself in the mirror, slipping the barrette out of her hair. Then, she flexes her muscles and tries to make an intimidating face.

For some reason, this woman seems like the epitome of strength to Taylor. She doesn't know why, but she wants it.

_It's probably conceited to say,_

_But I think we're alike in a certain way_

_I...um..._

Taylor then rolls down her sleeves and leaves the bathroom. She and that woman share a mysterious bond somehow. She knows they must have something obvious in common, and if she pries a little further inside of herself, she can probably guess at what that something is.

It's on the tip of her tongue, and she somehow knows and doesn't know, all at the same time.

_Do you feel my heart saying hi?_

As she's returning to her seat, Taylor walks past the woman's table. She can't help but stare and wonder if she can feel the waves of curiosity and wonder that are practically radiating off of her at the moment.

A quick glance around the diner has you wondering why nobody else has noticed this beautiful (beautiful?) woman sitting in their midst. Why doesn't anybody feel the same way that Taylor does?

_In this whole luncheonette_

_Why am I the only one who see you're beautiful?_

_No, I mean_

_Handsome!_

She gets back to the table just as their food arrives. As she eats her blueberry waffles, she quietly contemplates this dilemma. "Why are you being so quiet?" Austin asks, poking her on the shoulder.

Taylor shrugs, "Dunno."

The rest of the meal goes by without incident, and Taylor's parents refrain from arguing again until they get home.

And, for the rest of the day, Taylor can't shake that strange feeling, which manifests itself in a chorus that plays on repeat in her head:

_I know you_

_I know you_

_I know you_

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, I know that this is kinda weird since Taylor is pretty much as femme as they come. But I really wanted to capture that feeling of discovery and recognition that comes with meeting someone who you really identify with. And, honestly, I just wanted an excuse to listen to "Ring of Keys" like 30 times. I've recently become obsessed with Fun Home and you should totally check it out, or at least watch Sydney Lucas's performance of this song at the Tony Awards which might bring you to tears.


End file.
